The Dickinson press., 1887-11-12
A QUAINT OLD TOWN.
MULLET AND OTHER INDICATIONS
OF THE FISHING INTEREST.

MUlLET AND OTHER INDICATIONS
OF THE FISHING INTEREST.
Crew "f IL Schooner Oh a SEEMING Expe-
diti"n-A school of Mullct-A Good
Catch-Di,i,iing the Fish into shares.
Luck.
Beaufort is II quaint old town, CT sort of
southern Nantucket, containing many relies
OF colonial times, oduruuS of mullet and other
oltartory indications of the fishing interest;
II has been somewhat left behind i'll the
march of modern progress and cut of from
the rest of the world. the terminus of the rail
road being nj M"rrhcad City, two miles utr
across the sound. Morchcad is Il place, com.
N'ratively speaking, of yesterday, is more
pre'"niious, having Il modern hotcl--thc Al
lantlc-calmlc ot accommodating 400 or :,nl
guests, and of slowing away as many us su,l
Fishing. upon which the greater part uf
the community live, is Il very interesting
matter quite worth examination in the in
lcrrst of which We obtain permission to ,n
the crew of Il schooner on Il scining cXpc,ii.
tlon. We turn out at 1850 Il. III, and hy the
light of tho pnling stars and Frightening
dawn, get into Il "vawl boat" and pull out To
tn" schooner, which is Just getting under
way. She towS two Seine boats, the roomy
proportions and strong build of which are in
s'rlkinS contrast tn the fine lines of the
sharrrs Til" schooner is manned by a
sklppcr three hands and Il cook. The fishing
crew consists "t six men. They are all
negroes but onc-a white man who commands
the entire expedition.
fresh soutlcrly breeze is blowing th.
anchor is weighed and we are soon hra,lu.
out of iii" sound toward the open sea. Bv
thls time 1t is broad daNliglt the cook, who
has been busy IN the galley, arranges plut.S,
cups, knives and forks on the cabin hatch.
which forms IN excellent table Accepting
I'm invitation To join the banquet, We con.
tribute thereto the contents of our uucI,
basket. The meal consists of good lo, bis.
cults, fried pork, anl what we at first sup
posed To he coffee, but which turns out To he
mixture of hot water and mulass"s III ,Li;
liquli We're scrvedat thehotcllablc we should
probably reject it, but somehow, under the
present circumstances its flavor, though
novel, is not unpala:abr.
a SCHOOL. OF MuII.Er.
breakfast over, pipes ar, lighted, and one
ut tn" hands goes aiutt 10 look out for n school
"l mulct. jus, n, tl" sun is rising over the
banks I" the eastward, he sings out, 'School
on the weather bow" ThrciI.ct i, ,eoIvoui,.
Ihe helm is janmcd Ilar, ;,-lcu; the littl.
craft flies round; the fishing crew tumb.
over the stern into the boats, and stand by.
ready To cast "lf when the word is given. In
Il little while we ara uu with the fish. tl,o
painter is let go; the lnuals propelled bv louu
oars and strong arms, separate; the long
SEINE rapidly paid out "u,ul they cautiously
approach tao school In Il few minutes they
are on It's edge, and then b. gins the ,clrat,
business of inclosing it, Tho lnulet dart
about and leap ont of the water: I, they
don't know exactly which way to 20, and
h'ld'ile togcthcr-;, fatal instinct for them.
Slowly, but surely, each boat describes a
Scmicircle, having TN. lurI;lrss fish securely
surrounded
1li" next process is that of "pnrsills," or
drawing the lower part Of tho net together 50
that they cun be lailcl out with tho hand
nets. fitted with rings about twenty inches i'm
diameter, ut the cnl of long poles. This
operation accomplished the schooner is hailed
and ranges UP alongside Now comes tho
hard work Tic pole net, are distributed.
and the ii,h are dipped ont of the purse
and transferred to the hnl Of the schooner.
which is fitted csprrially for tile puaposr. If
1T Is "a good catch, from 10000 to 10000 niul-
let are safely slowed, the scin is replaced i'm
the boats AMI wr bear up for home On ar
rival the fish are la,ilc,l out on the wharf md
divided into shares according To the number
OF the crew and the amount of Investment
cach may have. The days work entities TO
one share, or ",cr," in the vcrn,cuInr. If
capital is invested, the "shcrs' are arranged
pro rata.
MAKING THE DIVISION
The division is niade with much ,trc, nlcll
Pile oil fish representing Il "shcr. When it is
completed til" crew form II line With their
backs To the heaps, 10 avoid all possibility Of
nnfaiiness, and the captain takes IL pole, and,
touching one of the Heaps. asks. "Wholl have
this shcrs' II will" SIMS ON, sun,cLodv.
"Jeln's shrr. Come and take ii, .Ten.' Tho
process is repeated until Tom, Jack, Bob and
all have their "shers Tie portion belonging
To ill" owners Of the schooner, boats and sclne
Is taken 10 them: and this completes the ,lav,
Inc men get their ration, whie out, but no
pay, and an" well content to take their
chances of IL catch. a day of good luck
and they are III the ma ajority-will make tho
minimum earning-onc ,l;urc-worth about
five dollars. But while tho liauli are grncr.
ally good, there are exceptions. Som.ii,n,.,
tho catch is light and sometimes they will
cruise all day without sighting Il fish.
These occasions bring ont the native good
temper of the negro An ingli,h crew, at
the end of such Il days frui'I"ss labor, woull
be III Il frame of mlLl certainly no, Chris
tlan: but which woull, nevertheless, find
most probable expression in what the late
Mr.. Charles R"ade calls "scrpturnl terms. >
The dalky lains hi, disappointment differ
entity, turning it intna Ike aud being almost
as light hearted and fall of fun ov"rnn empty
hold as with Il boat full Of s'si'rs." Ncarl"
every description Of salt water ti>n is caught
in these watcra--shad, buD9h, nac!or"l and
great variety with local ,lnmc,. Ihi>, is the
sehson for mullet. They nr"srinol bs :els Of
thousands, brought u the wharvcs, CLEANED,
cornell, packed into larrch, and shipped
away, usually within a few LoarS The kegs
contain Il hundred pounds of fish, nj: III.
gross weight Of each being about li5 pquni$.
Tho principal mnret i, E;,lci.n and Other IN.
land towns of the state. = Beaufort ~. Cl
Cor Boston Transcript.
The Charming "Milk shakc.'
Milk shaker Everybody III Cincinnati
and roundabout has heard Of it, thousands
nave drank 1t. yet to most people 1t is alto
gether ncw. 1t Is a big glass full of favored
milE-valila suits most p"oplr better than
any other flavor-icod md SHAKEN before
taken" until there is al, inch Of iroli or foam
at the top. It's nice If i'se,f, c,pcr!;llv on u
warm day. But perhaps the ccf charm of
milk shake is its novelty and tne watching,